Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra violinist Susan Midkiff, was born in Oxford, England and received her undergraduate degree from the Royal Northern College of Music. She won several scholarships and prizes including the prestigious Muster Award which enabled her to come to America to study with Shmuel Ashenasi of the Vermeer Quartet. Susan has held Associate Concertmaster positions with both the Naples Philharmonic and the Roanoke Symphony and one-year positions with the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the National Symphony Orchestra.